saw the cutest pic of a blogger's friend daughter's brand new toy kitchen set. showed my bff (who is also preggo) and she said "too bad you can't that for your LO - we're having a boy)...
i looked to dh and said, well we could, couldn't we? he wasn't against it, but he wasn't sold on the idea either.
are you for/against gender-specific toys?
pomelo / 5178 posts
A toy kitchen is only for girls? I guess I didn't get the memo... DD has a hand-me-down toy kitchen, from her male cousin. Both kids have LOVED that thing, and I don't think it has anything to do with sex/gender.
ETA: I honestly didn't think a toy kitchen was a "gendered" toy. I had no idea some people wouldn't be ok with boys playing cook/kitchen.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
I might not buy a Barbie for my son but I don't think kitchen stuff is gender specific. You should get it!
grapefruit / 4049 posts
I know lots of toddler boys with play kitchens! My girls have superheroes, cars and tool toys...
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
that's ridiculous! i bought charlie a red kitchen when he was 9 months old, and out of all our toys, it's probably the one that has been played with the most between both kids.
i got charlie a baby doll and a doll stroller, and think it's important for boys to have those toys as well as girls to have "boy" toys as well.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
Hasn't being a chef been a manly man profession for...forever? I'm all for ungendered toys, and I think that food is for everyone!
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
If we have a boy he will be playing with my lo's kitchen. Dh buys my lo some "boy " toys, like he got her a basketball to celebrate how tall she was after her last checkup because he thinks she'll be a basketball player 
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
I plan to teach my son to cook, and DH is an even better cook that me (shh don't tell him I actually admitted that!), so I would love for him to have a play kitchen! I haven't asked DH but I think he would be ok with it.
But he probably would not be okay with dolls or anything else too girly.
As a girl myself I loved playing with boy toys! Legos were my favorite, I also loved playing cars, swords, guns etc. It helped that I had three brothers.
My favorite computer game was a space shooting game lol.
pomegranate / 3503 posts
My husband said the same thing when I mentioned that I wanted to get him a kitchen set. We did ended up getting a kitchen set some time later and my son loves playing with it. He cuts his vegetables and make us soup all the time. It's great for imaginative play. Even my husband thinks it's cute now. My daughter loves playing with her brother's cars and trains now. I think it's great.
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
I say toys are fine across the board! For his 2nd Christmas, my brother only wanted Cabbage Patch dolls because of my dolls. He got two (a baby and a kid) and loved them. He didn't suffer as a result 
he also stole my barbies.
my husband says all the time that he played barbies with his cousin (female) because that's what she had for toys, and doesn't think it like...affected him at all. LOL.
that said, my ILs bought my nephew a plastic grill (little tikes?) when he was 2 and he just threw it around. but that's his personality.
pear / 1837 posts
@Mrs. Bee: Every kid at our daycare- regardless of gender- LOVES pushing around the baby dolls in the little strollers.
We barely buy into the idea of gendered clothes for LO (the white shorts with rainbow hearts on them are a regular staple of his daycare-wear). Girly toys are not an issue.
pomegranate / 3414 posts
I'm all for buying kids the toys traditionally for the opposite gender; I think it is important to expose kids to all types of play. I also don't agree that a toy kitchen is a "girl" toy.
hostess / papaya / 10540 posts
What?!?! Aren't there more professional male than female chefs? I gifted my nephew a doll stroller because he's obsessed with them. I think it's important for kids to play with a variety of toys.
honeydew / 7687 posts
I am so so so against gendering of toys (and clothes) and it drives me nuts. We're having a boy too, and he'll definitely have a kitchen, and dress up clothes that aren't necessarily knights/ninjas/etc., and art stuff, and dolls if he wants them. I feel strongly on this topic
I always cringe when I hear parents tell their kids "but that is for boys" or "but that is for girls". I know I've read a few articles about toy stores "ungendering" their aisles and products and I hope it is a trend.
For any other nerds, I found this series on Legos fascinating: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/05/08/part-i-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap/
pomegranate / 3272 posts
@scg00387: It's funny you brought up legos. I was just at Target this weekend getting b-day gifts for my nieces and my SIL told me that they would love this Lego camper set. I saw that they have an entire new line of Legos that are for girls (think pink and other "girl" type play sets). I mentioned how I thought it was strange that it took them this long to do something like this. Reading your article, looks like they did that before, just not the different colors. I grew up with Legos, although I had 3 brothers so we had a lot more "boy" toys than "girl" toys.
squash / 13199 posts
Aside from barbie I dont really consider any toys to be gender specific.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
I hate the idea of boys toys and girls toys!!! I think kids should be allowed to play with whatever toys they want without a stigma of "oh that's a girl toy" or "that's a boy toy"; no, it's a toy, full stop. I hope our DD likes playing with Legos (not the pink ones, just the originals) and matchbox cars, and I hope any future sons like playing with dolls and toy kitchens. My cousin bought his son a pair of dress up heels because he wanted to dress up like a princess like his sister, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.
honeydew / 7687 posts
@MUI831 Yeah... on one hand it's better than girls not playing with legos at all but on the other, I'd rather there were JUST legos. My nieces have the kits and they're kind of lame - hair dresser, rock star, etc. I know some parents probably wouldn't buy 'regular' legos for their girls and will buy these, but I think that slapping pink, purple, and "girly stuff" on them is... problematic.
grapefruit / 4819 posts
@mrbee: Ahhhh!!!! I'm just dying over those photos! The little naked chef picture is so cute!
grape / 84 posts
that's so funny because my husband reacted exactly the same way when i suggested buying a play kitchen for our son! i love to cook and my LO is always is hovering around my feet while i'm in the kitchen.
i do plan on getting him a play kitchen soon. i think he would love it and i don't agree with concept of gendered toys at all!
so glad to see you all agree.
pomegranate / 3643 posts
I"m sure I would have thought of a kitchen as "girlie" because I had one and only had sisters and so it was only girls I knew who played with them, you know? But my husband had one too, so I'm sure our LO will get one. Maybe your husband just didn't have one growing up so assumed they were for girls.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@mrbee: OMG LOVE!!! sooo cute. Where did you get your kitchen? It's adorbs.
@scg00387: @MUI831: I LOVE LOVE LOVED legos when I was a kid. My brothers and I would have challenges on who could build the best cars, then race them in the hallway, smash them into each other and see whose car survived the longest lol! Totally a stereotypical boy game but I LOVED it.
On the other hand, I was obsessed with barbies too and had a gigantic bin of them. I always made my little brother play with me... of course he pretended the holes in their feet were rockets lol!
We also (my brother and me) played "house" all the time.
I never remember there being a distinction between boy/girl toys. It was all equal in our house.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
@mrbee: adorable!!!
And yes - I'm totally with you all for the non-genderment of toys; playtime is playtime, doesn't matter who plays with what as long you're having fun!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@mrbee: HA HA HA those pictures are priceless!!! Love his chef's uniform!!
I plan on letting little M play with whatever she wants. If she wants a truck, great! If she wants a doll, great! A kitchen set is so not gender specific...imo at least.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
You could always do a grill if your husband was opposed to a kitchen!
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